Philippe Coutinho could be out till New Year with ankle ligament injury

Liverpool have received a massive blow in the form of Philippe Coutinho, with the midfieder set to be out till the new year with ankle ligament damage. The Brazilian was stretchered off the pitch against Sunderland and could miss the remainder of the year, subject to a scan later today.

The Mirror reports that the midfielder is set to miss at least six games in the busy Christmas period, where they play the Merseyside derby and host title contenders Manchester City at Anfield. However, Roberto Firmino does not have much to worry about and should be fine to play a major part over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge is still not fit enough to train and will sit out their EFL Cup semi-final game against Leeds United this mid-week.

The Reds managed to get the better of Sunderland despite the absence of Coutinho for the major part, which will be seen as a major positive for Klopp, who will be looking closely at the scan results for the 24-year-old later today. Liverpool are currently level on points with Manchester City and a point behind Chelsea as they go into December with a host of important fixtures on the horizon.

The boss was incredibly pleased with the fight they showed against the black Cats and insists that it is one of the most deserving victories in his career thus far.

"We have now had two games in a row where, with our style of play, we have forced the [opposition] team into a really, really deep formation," Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. "We had the solutions but, unfortunately, the ball is rolling! Sometimes you don't see where the right space is. But we always stayed in the game and tried again and again and again.

"At the end, maybe it was one of the most deserved wins I was ever part of. So I'm fine with the result and with the performance, because it's not about being genius, it's about being ready for a game like this. And the boys did, again, unbelievably well. [It was] very important for us," he said.